The Start of the 09/10 Season

Fahnestock Ski Area--Carmel NY
Christmas Day Trip Lost NY Ski Areas
This one is a blast from my past! I'm currently doing some research on the long closed Fahnestock Ski Area in Carmel NY. Fahnestock was a small ski area with 2 rope tows, a Poma Lift and a T-Bar. Vert Drop was 235' and it had 2 slopes and 4 trails.

I don't know how old the area is however,Fahnestock was one of the first ski areas in the country to have Snow Making and this was way back in the 50's. From the look of things it's been long closed. Even though the area sits on State Property it is closed to the public and is posted.

Fahnestock will always be a special place to me. This is where my Father taught me how to ski back in the early 70's. I remember being dragged up hill sideways by its rope tow more than once. Life became much easier once I could ski better and was allowed to ride the Poma Lift.


Vic's New Job "Telemarketing" Victor is making his first Telemark turns although he's having a hard time turning right! (That was Zoolander's problem too!) Anyway I think Victor is doing well and he has a natural talent for the sport.
Of course he does have me as an Instructor (PSIA Level II Nordic DH)


Our First NELSAP Attack of the Year /After the "big" blizzard the Saturday night before Christmas, there was just enough snow to make a few turns at JB Williams Park in Glastonbury. Access to the hill required cross-country skiing down the main park trail, followed by a bushwack to the bottom of the tow rope lift. The main slope is all over grown, but the tow line was just wide enough for the first tele turns of the season. Victor lost his cross-country skiing virginity on this day, and he was frequently breathing heavily!

Powder Ridge --NELSAP*

With today's ski plans cancelled we decided to take a hike on the Mattabesett Trail from RT 66 along Beseck Mountain over to Powder Ridge Ski Area. I've never skied Powder Ridge.It closed back in spring of 2006 after 46 years in business. The town of Middlefield purchased the area for 2.5 million last year and is looking for partners to bring the area back to life. Read, Powder Ridge Committee's Request for Quote for more information on what the town was looking for. From what I've read the Town did get two bids and one was awarded.

According to the NELSAP site Powder Ridge will be be back. I'm not so sure of that.
I was amazed how left to seed this area was!!! All of the trails seem deeply overgrown and none of the four lifts look maintained. They talk of upgrades to the infrastructure however I don't see much that is salvageable.From reading news articles over the past few years you got the idea that some basic maintenance was being done on this place.

They talk of opening Powder Ridge in the near future, however I think Middlefield's window of opportunity has long passed by. It's going to take deep pockets to get this place running again. It would be nice if they could at least remove the "no trespassing signs" and mow the slopes a bit. With some help from Mother Nature we could at least enjoy what's left of this soon to be lost ski area.


Part of me wants to believe that Middlefield has found a "Sugar Daddy" that wants to pour millions into restoring Powder Ridge into what it once was. Got my fingers crossed but realistically we all know it's never going to happen.

I'd love to ski Powder Ridge's historic slopes this winter,my only hope is I won't be trespassing!

--Skidmarks

*http://www.nelsap.org/ct/ct.html New England Lost Ski Area Project
"Connecticut, although a small state, did have quite a few ski areas at one point in time. Many of these areas were quite small with a few rope tows."
Current Lost Count: 60

NELSAP CT ---Go West Young Man

Today I started scouting for some new west of the river NELSAP CT "Lost Ski Areas". The third one was the charm!!


The first area Simsbury Ski Club Hill was tucked back off the road behind some houses. Sandy was able to spot the old lift line from the car, but it will require a full on poach to check out and ski this one.

Next on the list was Bloomfield This one shows a Ski Lift on the topo map but is another perfect case of "you can't get there form here". We couldn't get close enough to hike in but I'll give it a shot again at a future date.

Thanks to Brian Smith's Facebook comments Westledge School was back on my radar. This one is going to be great ski once we get some snow!!

The parking lot at Master's school will allow for easy access. The slope is a bit overgrown, however the lift line, which was a run too back in the day is steep and long and has at least 200FT vertical drop. It's in very good shape too. At a max of 12 FT wide we're going to need to keep things turning. Victor says he's looking forward to schussing this run. Sandy was playing this one close to the cuff and showed no emotion. We all agreed it was going to take some snow to make this run skiable.


After checking things out for a while Victor and I had a quick shot of Aquavit and toasted Ullr! Let's get this winter show on the road!!

NELSAP CT -- 2009 SEASON WRAP UP

According to the http://www.nelsap.org/ct/ct.htmlsite (New England Lost Ski Area Project) CT has 60 lost ski areas. Winter 2009 with it's lack of a January thaw, gave us the unique opportunity of a skiable natural snow base. It was a short window but I did manage to check the following "Lost Ski Areas" of my hit list.

December 23, 2008
Wethersfield Ski Club---QuarryPark, Rocky Hill was my first visit. It wasn't much of a ski but you could see the remains of the old Buick that once powered the rope tow. It was a quick ski in and out.






January 18th, 2009
WickhamPark, East Hartford was another solo run. Easy access from the parking lot of the Marco Polo Lounge. Couldn't find any lift remains but the hill is skiable with minimal snow since it's grass covered. Made a few runs before going to work!!






January 19th, 2009
Page Park Bristol, on the way back from a day of XC skiing Sandy and I decided to return and try Page Park again. Much less crusty than last season's adventure. Nice grass surface needs less snow to be skiable. Two trails to choose from, nice parking lot.



January 23, 2009
Fairchild Park Naugatuck, Jon March and Victor Anderson's home town area. Victor always said we should ski his old home-town hill. Fairchild Park’s old ski slope is where friends Jon March and Victor Anderson cut their skiing teeth back in the early 70’s. Located in their old neighborhood, at the end of the street, tucked in amongst modest middle class homes, Fairchild Park is now home to a playground, ball field, basketball court and once a long time ago, a ski area, now abandoned. I ski with Victor all the time but Jon hadn't skied in over 25 years.

Jon waisted no time getting back into the swing of things; he didn't miss a beat. All I can say is it was one of those special days I'll never forget. We shot a great video of the event "Lunch Time at Fairchild Park"




January 25, 2009
Canton Ski Club/Sweetheart Hill Collinsville, This one was the real deal!! You need lot's of snow to make it skiable. The slopes are very grown in and it's rocky too. No parking, I had to jam my car into a snow bank. We had just enough snow to make it work. Sandy decided to check things out using snowshoes. I was wishing I had my helmet and knee pads.

Used climbing skins for the way up.Made a couple of runs and felt a little in the back seat. Afterwards I realized that I hadn't shortened my poles for the downhill run. A rookie move!!


March 3rd, 2009
Mixville Tow Cheshire, A Nor'easter blankets the hills of CT! Victor and I meet at 7:00 AM the following day. We have a big plowed parking lot and easy access. You can hear the drone of the neighborhood widget factory next store (must be hard to sleep in).

Victor goes big on his first run and pays the price!! The snow is not bad but a little chunky. After a few runs, it's time to go to work.




Job well done!!Victor sounds the horn and praises Ullr, the Norse God of Snow.
In the end we skied 6 of NELSAP's 60 lost CT ski areas. We look forward to 2010.

NELSAP CT RECON MISSION

I'm not sure why but I have high hopes and big plans for the upcoming ski season. Lately I've been pouring over the http://www.nelsap.org/ site looking for more skiable lost areas in CT. Last Wednesday November 18Th I did some recon, in preparation of the first big local snows.

I started with a visit to Northview Slope in Manchester. The main slope looks clear enough to ski with some moderate snowfall. I even was lucky enough to shoot a 4 point Buck (with my Cannon) while checking things out. The fact that Northview was an old Nike Missile Base made things extra cool.



Next Stop, Henry Park in Vernon, with a nice grass surface this old ski hill should prove to be an easy conquest. My only hope is the road leading up to the tower from downtown isn't plowed in the winter. Below the road you can still see the remnants of the old rope tow.



Last Stop, JB Williams Park in Glastonbury, this area is going to be great! The old slope is grown in but the old lift line is going to be very skiable with snow. Very open with no rocks or stumps.

All we need to do now is sit back and wait for that perfect storm!

--Skidmarks